Raw and real ramblings of a roving Kiwi with subjects as varied as the author

December 28, 2010

WikiLeaks: US image in NZ 'has been damaged by leaks'

What an odd headline for the Herald newspaper: US image in NZ has been damaged by leaks.

I'm sorry, I must have missed something - like their image having improved for one. I mean does the Herald really think their readers are a bunch of idiots? Of course we know the US are bullies. We didn't need some leaked bits of gossip to find that out. And we're not naive enough to think we possess no egotistical Politicians who just may have let their tongues wag in one of them all time favourite tax-paying dinners.

What I think is bloody funny about this, is how it's all been thrown back in the face of the US. It's not what we as a Country have said, it's what they have. The US International image, since this is what the Herald seems focused on, is to look like they're a caring sharing nation when in fact, these leaks, if nothing else, show their a bunch of schoolboy bullies and, I for one, have never felt so proud of good old Helen.

"This matters to the United States, because the Prime Minister uses military and intelligence co-operation with the US - and high-level visits in particular - to give the illusion in some circles in Washington that New Zealand is still an ally, while maintaining as much as possible New Zealand's non-aligned policies and the PM's anti-American image at home."

In other words, she did what she was paid to do - kept an alliance with the Country who voted her into power and the problem with that is? Can't say I liked Clarke much beforehand but I'd certainly have her on my side in a game of poker.